Speed: The One Genuinely Modern Pleasure

by Mat Oxley

The marriage of the internal combustion engine and the bicycle changed the world forever. A bit more than a century ago mankind was agog to the new thrill of petroleum explosions and ever-increasing velocity. This book tells the story of the early years of our love affair with motorcycles and speed, when heroic pioneer racers hurtled into the unknown: in 1896 Britain’s first motorcycle race was won at 27mph, by 1937 the world record stood at a staggering 173mph. Speed: The One Genuinely Modern Pleasure races from Britain’s Isle Man TT and Brooklands to America’s so-called murderdromes and far beyond, bringing to life a unique era, when our ancestors were in thrall to a brave new technology.

Mat Oxley is a journalist and author who has been writing about going fast on motorcycles for more than thirty years. He is an Isle of Man TT winner.

170 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2018